POLITICAL PARTIES – AUSTRALIA – PLATFORMS

Fightback on penalty rates

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Packham, Dennis Shanahan, Alice Workman
The Australian – Page: 1 & 5 : 22-Apr-19

Labor plans to reconvene federal parliament before 30 June if it wins the election, in order to capitalise on a Senate that may be more amenable to its proposed industrial relations reforms. Amongst other things, Labor intends to reverse cuts to penalty rates within its first 100 days in office. However, Australian Industry Group CEO Innes Willox has written to Senate crossbenchers warning that Labor’s workplace reforms would require more extensive consultation than would be possible by the end of June.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP, AUSTRALIA. FAIR WORK COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, CENTRE ALLIANCE

CFMEU pushing closed shop ahead of possible Labor win

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by David Marin-Guzman
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 5 : 23-Apr-19

The New South Wales branch of the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has declined to comment on claims that it has adopted a ‘no ticket, no start’ policy at construction sites in Sydney. The Master Builders Association has raised concerns about the practice, with executive director Brian Seidler fearing that the push for compulsory union membership on building sites will spread to other states. The federal government’s building code – which Labor wants to abolish – prohibits ‘no ticket, no start’ arrangements.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, MASTER BUILDERS ASSOCIATION OF NEW SOUTH WALES PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Revealed: Bill’s carbon costs

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson, Ben Packham
The Australian – Page: 1 & 4 : 18-Apr-19

The Greens believe that Labor’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction target is too dependent on the use of international carbon credits. Greens MP Adam Bandt has signalled that the party could use its numbers in the Senate to block any legislation that mandates the use of international carbon credits. Meanwhile, some estimates suggest that Australian businesses could be forced to pay up to $25bn to purchase international carbon credits under Labor. This is based on an average price of $50 per carbon credit over the next decade.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIAN GREENS, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE ENVIRONMENT AND ENERGY, INTERGOVERNMENTAL PANEL ON CLIMATE CHANGE, BAECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

Record 1.3 million landlords cash in on negative gearing as shake-up looms

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ben Butler, Michael Roddan
The Australian – Page: 19 & 26 : 17-Apr-19

Data from the Australian Taxation Office shows that the number of property investors who use negative gearing rose from 631,000 to about 1.3 million between 2000 and 2017. In contrast, the number of investors who broke even or made a profit rose from 532,000 to around 856,000. The figures also show that the proportion of investors who are aged 60+ rose from around 15 per cent to about 23.5 per cent. Robert Deutsch of the Tax Institute does not expect Labor’s proposed negative gearing reforms to have much effect on housing prices.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, THE TAX INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, BIS OXFORD ECONOMICS PTY LTD, UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES

Shorten’s $34b super gaffe

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Andrew Tillett, Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 17-Apr-19

Opposition Leader Bill Shorten used a press conference on 16 April to state that Labor will not increase existing taxes on superannuation or introduce new taxes if it wins the federal election. Shadow finance minister Jim Chalmers later clarified Shorten’s comments, stating that he meant there will be no changes to super policy apart from those that have been previously announced. Labor has in fact previously announced four proposed changes to super policy. The Coalition has estimated that these reforms could increase tax revenue by about $34bn over a decade.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, GRATTAN INSTITUTE

Labor flags R&D reprieve on clawbacks

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Paul Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 & 20 : 16-Apr-19

Shadow innovation minister Kim Carr says Labor will look at how to lift expenditure on research and development to three per cent of GDP by 2030 if it wins the federal election. He notes that R&D expenditure is currently at 1.8 per cent of GDP, compared with 2.1 per cent in 2013. Carr says Labor will seek to have start-ups exempted from the R&D tax incentive clawbacks that impacted the technology sector in late 2018, while he claims that over 1,000 scientists have lost their jobs under the current government.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, DULUXGROUP LIMITED – ASX DLX, AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY

Why Morrison needs to turn up the fear factor on Labor

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Robert Gottliebsen
The Australian – Page: 29 : 16-Apr-19

The Coalition’s best chance of winning the federal election may to be to launch a fear campaign against key Labor policies, such as its franking credit reforms and changes to the negative gearing regime. The latter policy will almost certainly result in lower house values over time; the Coalition should pitch its fear campaign at home buyers who are in or are close to being in negative equity, as well as small business owners who use their homes as capital. However, Prime Minister Scott Morrison is unlikely to seek to cash in on the fear factor until it is far too late.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Labor taxes could hinder economy

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Matthew Cranston
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 8 : 16-Apr-19

The consensus among economists would seem to be that the Coalition’s tax policies will be better for the economy over the medium- to long-term than those of Labor. However, Labor’s short-term tax cuts for low-income earners could provide a stimulus for the economy at a time when it appears to be slowing. AMP’s chief economist Shane Oliver says the impact of Labor’s tax policies will depend on what it does with the extra revenue that it raises.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AMP LIMITED – ASX AMP, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

Free blood tests: Labor raises health pressure

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Simon Benson
The Australian – Page: 1 : 16-Apr-19

Healthcare is set to continue to dominate the federal election campaign, with Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to announce an expansion of Labor’s cancer care package on 16 April. Shorten will commit to providing free blood tests for cancer patients and older Australians, at a cost of $200m. This is in addition to Labor’s previously-announced $2.3bn cancer treatment plan. Meanwhile, Labor has rejected suggestions of a $5.8bn funding shortfall for its cancer policy, stating that the Health Department has advised that it has not costed the policy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF HEALTH, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET

Tax cut plan needs $40b off spending

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by John Kehoe, Phillip Coorey
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 6 : 16-Apr-19

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann is confident that the Coalition can reduce government spending to about 23.6 per cent of GDP over the next decade, as outlined in the April 2019 Budget. Danielle Wood of the Grattan Institute warns that this would require spending to be cut by $40bn a year in order to finance tax cuts and retain a surplus. Meanwhile, shadow treasurer Chris Bowen has described the second and third stages of the government’s tax cuts package as "utterly unsustainable, unaffordable and irresponsible". Labor supports the first stage of the tax cuts, and Bowen says further cuts will be considered in the context of each Budget.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF FINANCE, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY